Jaded
October 28th, 2008, 11:52 PM
A Harrison D-2 bus driver will face charges of carless driving resulting in injury after she sent five elementary school students to the hospital. The accident happened October 24th near the intersection of Delta and El Morro.
Police say 24-year-old Tammy Williams had a valid Colorado Commercial Drivers License and was legally operating the1996 GMC Bluebird School Bus as an employee of School District 2 when the accident happened.
Parents tell NEWSCHANNEL 13 kids on the bus were trying to get the bus driver to speed up where there are two dips in the road.
"Normally she goes slow, slow, slow then a little fast, but this time she went slow, slow, slow and floored it," says Parent Sherry Ellinger. Her daughter was one of the students sent to Memorial Hospital.
"The next thing, all these kids were bouncing up in the air and she hit her head on the ceiling and when she came back down she hit her stomach on the seat in front of her," says Ellinger. Her daughter now has a lacerated liver and may have to have surgery.
"They [D-2 officials] said it was a ‘minor incident.' I almost didn't bring her here because it was so nonchalant, they were acting like it wasn't anything big," says Ellinger.
She, along with other parents, are angry. Many called the district when their kids didn't come home Thursday afternoon.
"They're really showing me that they didn't care about what was going on with my child!" says Jamarco Mitchell. He wants to know why his wife had to call the district and why they didn't call him immediately.
Mitchell's 9-year old son, Stephan Deedon, fell out of the bus when the emergency exit opened.
"What was the bus driver doing for a child to fall out of the back of the bus?" he asks. His son was lucky, able to go home with a few bumps and bruises.
"We're supposed to put our children in the bus driver's hands, but this bus driver is acting reckless, how are we supposed to trust that?" says Mitchell.
Police investigation found that the bus was mechanically sound, including the emergency exit door.
The video recovered from the bus has been confiscated by police as evidence and wont be available for release until the case heads through courts.
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9254905
Police say 24-year-old Tammy Williams had a valid Colorado Commercial Drivers License and was legally operating the1996 GMC Bluebird School Bus as an employee of School District 2 when the accident happened.
Parents tell NEWSCHANNEL 13 kids on the bus were trying to get the bus driver to speed up where there are two dips in the road.
"Normally she goes slow, slow, slow then a little fast, but this time she went slow, slow, slow and floored it," says Parent Sherry Ellinger. Her daughter was one of the students sent to Memorial Hospital.
"The next thing, all these kids were bouncing up in the air and she hit her head on the ceiling and when she came back down she hit her stomach on the seat in front of her," says Ellinger. Her daughter now has a lacerated liver and may have to have surgery.
"They [D-2 officials] said it was a ‘minor incident.' I almost didn't bring her here because it was so nonchalant, they were acting like it wasn't anything big," says Ellinger.
She, along with other parents, are angry. Many called the district when their kids didn't come home Thursday afternoon.
"They're really showing me that they didn't care about what was going on with my child!" says Jamarco Mitchell. He wants to know why his wife had to call the district and why they didn't call him immediately.
Mitchell's 9-year old son, Stephan Deedon, fell out of the bus when the emergency exit opened.
"What was the bus driver doing for a child to fall out of the back of the bus?" he asks. His son was lucky, able to go home with a few bumps and bruises.
"We're supposed to put our children in the bus driver's hands, but this bus driver is acting reckless, how are we supposed to trust that?" says Mitchell.
Police investigation found that the bus was mechanically sound, including the emergency exit door.
The video recovered from the bus has been confiscated by police as evidence and wont be available for release until the case heads through courts.
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9254905